SPOKANE, Wash. -- Visiting Linfield hit .305 as a team and rolled past Whitworth 30-23, 30-16, 30-24 in a Northwest Conference volleyball match on Friday night in the Whitworth Fieldhouse.

Florence led all players with 15 kills

The tenth-ranked Wildcats improved to 15-1 overall and 8-1 in the NWC, one game behind Pacific Lutheran. The Pirates dropped their second straight match at home to fall to 4-16, 3-6.

Three Linfield players each hit well over .300 and finished with double digits in kills. Lauren Kreiger had 13 kills and hit .393, while Kelsey French (.417) and Molly Taylor (.381) each had 12 kills. The Wildcats' libero, Michelle Wyatt, led the team with 14 digs, while Chelsea Gellatly dished 41 assists.

Whitworth's Angie Florence smashed a match-high 15 kills, and libero Cassie Moore dug a match-high 19 balls. The Pirates hit .137 for the match and could not keep pace with the hard-hitting Wildcats.

Whitworth was within 13-12 in the first game after a Linfield attack error, but the Wildcats went on a 14-3 run to take an insurmountable 27-15 lead. The Pirates fought back to within 29-23, but Linfield won the game on a kill by Lisa Brocard.

The second game was all Wildcats, as Linfield opened up leads of 9-5, 18-10 and 26-16. The Wildcats hit .375 as a team in the game and Kreiger had five of her kills.

Florence nailed eight of her kills in the third game, trying to help Whitworth force the match into another set. But Linfield never trailed in the game, forcing a Pirate timeout after taking an 11-4 advantage. The Pirates got within 15-10 on a block by Tamra Stark and Nicole Vander Meulen, and were still within 25-20 after a kill by Florence. But Linfield never let the Pirates get closer, winning the game on a kill by French.

Whitworth will try to break back into the win column on Saturday night, when the Pirates host Willamette at 5:00 pm. Linfield will travel down to Walla Walla to take on Whitman, a team that forced the Wildcats to five games last month in McMinnville, Oregon.